At KEYGroup we are proud to recognize local people or organizations that exemplify the attributes of Vibrant Entrepreneurial Organizations.
 The “Steel Heart Award” for November 2006 goes to…
UPMC Presbyterian hospital for “Leapfrogging” onto the list of the nation’s top fifty hospitals
VEOs are always looking for ways to improve procedures and processes that lead to ever higher levels of performance, productivity and – perhaps most important of all – safety. Sometimes the mountain to climb is exceedingly high, but when the stakes are even higher that effort is all the more rewarding.
This month we take pride in saluting UPMC Presbyterian, who joined fifty-eight U.S. hospitals that were recently named to the first “Leapfrog Top Hospitals” list. The Leapfrog Hospital Quality and Safety Survey is a national rating system that offers a broad assessment of a hospital's quality and safety. The Survey results from over 1,200 hospitals reveal significant findings about the state of health care quality and safety in the nation's hospitals.
Hospital safety is no small matter. In the US, hospital acquired infections alone are estimated to occur in more than 2 million cases per year, resulting in an added healthcare expenditures in excess of $4.5 billion. Combined with other factors such as medication errors and surgical mistakes, US hospitals are under the gun to improve practices that raise the level of patient care and safety. It’s comforting to know that Pittsburgh’s own UPMC Presbyterian is in the top rank of American hospitals in this effort.
Specifically, the “Leapfrog Survey” asks hospitals about their awareness and action on 30 "Safe Practices for Better Healthcare" endorsed by the National Quality Forum. Among the practices advocated is computerized physician order entry, ICU physician staffing requirements and evidence-based hospital referrals. The Leapfrog group estimates that over 65,000 lives per year could be saved and over 907,000 serious medication errors prevented if these standards are implemented. In addition, the U.S. health care system could save approximately $41.5 billion annually.
The Leapfrog Group was founded in November 2000 by the Business Roundtable and has support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, as well as its members and other funders. For more information, visit http://www.leapfroggroup.org.
Way to go UPMC Presbyterian
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